How will you feel when wearing a mask made from a real human skull on your face? Would you feel differently if it were the skull of a family member, or perhaps an enemy? For many ancient peoples and present-day tribes throughout Oceania and the Near East, wearing or displaying skull masks was not only normal but also a sacred act and part of loss in their culture.
Skull masks date back a staggering 11,000 years, the earliest examples being the plastered skulls of Jericho, unearthed in the West Bank near the Jordan River.
Skull decoration was a custom among the ancient Aztecs, who inlaid their skulls with valuable turquoise and lignite inlays, and filled their eye sockets with pyrite. The back has a hole drilled so you can wear a mask. Studies have shown that Aztec skull masks were crafted from the bones of defeated warriors and slain members of the nobility.
Oversized skulls are plastered with clay, resin or wax, then painted with intricate designs. Sometimes they are made to look realistic and resemble the deceased. Masks are often part of elaborate funeral rituals. This remains a common practice in the Oceania regions and especially in Papua New Guinea.
Aztec skull mask, National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City. (Gary Todd/CC of SA 1.0)
The skull mask is made from skull bones, human hair and clay. New England; South Sea Department, Museum of Ethnology, Berlin, Germany. (Public domain)
Skull mask from Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan. It was made in the 15th century from the skull of a defeated elite warrior, two flint blades, sea shells and pyrite. It was probably part of a ceremonial headdress or belt. Museo del Templo Mayor Collection, Mexico City (October 162934). (Arjuno3/CC of SA 4.0)
Reconstructed human skull from Papua New Guinea (Sailco/CC of SA 3.0)
Mixtec funerary masks were made of human skulls and decorated with mosaics. (Public domain)
Papua New Guinea skull mask (Sailko / CC by SA 3.0)
Mask made from an overshaped skull with ostrich feathers, Papua New Guinea. (Public domain)
Quetzalcoatl’s Aztec or Mixtec skull mask, made of turquoise on top of a human skull. (Andonic0/CC of SA 2.5)
